[CQ-Contest] Contest Club Presidents React to Proposed QST Changes

[Jim Idelson]

Fellow Contesters,

The following letter went out on Tuesday for delivery to the ARRL BoD in time
for consideration at their meeting on January 18. It was created by the
presidents of many of the largest ARRL-affiliated contest clubs. Since we had
so little advance notice of the issue prior to the BoD meeting, this Statement
primarily represents the common views of the club presidents. While we have
garnered the full support of the entire membership of some of the clubs, we do
not yet have the unanimous support of the membership of every club. But, we
wanted to send the League something indicative of the strength of feeling 
about
this issue in the contest community. Our message is that the decision to cut
QST pages is being made too quickly, and without sufficient creative thought
about other potential solutions. And, that we really want to help them do a
better job.

We have delayed this posting a bit in order to permit the Directors enough 
time
to absorb the Statement and prepare before hearing from their constituents.

We all hope this is something you can stand up and support. A short, simple,
friendly email note of support to your ARRL Division Director would not be out
of order. You will find all the Directors' email addresses at the end of this
message.

For all the contest club presidents who put this together - 73!

Jim Idelson K1IR
President
Yankee Clipper Contest Club

------------------------------ Text of Letter Follows
----------------------------------

James S. Idelson
96 Morse Road
Sudbury, MA 01776
tel 978.443.5549 fax 978.443.2034
email k1ir at designet.com

January 15, 2002

ARRL Board of Directors

SUBJECT:    JOINT STATEMENT AND REQUEST OF US CONTEST CLUBS ON THE PROPOSAL TO
ELIMINATE DETAILED CONTEST RESULTS FROM QST

To the Board of Directors:

We, the presidents of the undersigned ARRL-affiliated contest clubs, wish to
respectfully submit our unanimously held views on the current proposal to
eliminate certain elements of contest coverage from QST in an effort to reduce
cost. We are requesting that you defer this decision and accept our 
proposal to
contribute resources and work with the ARRL to develop a more complete and
effective solution to the problem.

The presidents of the ARRL-affiliated contest clubs unanimously support the
following Joint Statement and Request. In many cases, there has been 
sufficient
time to gain the support of the membership, as well:

1. We, the undersigned, recognize and appreciate the work that the ARRL 
does in
support of contesting, including sponsorship and administration of 15 ARRL
contests plus the IARU contest, publishing rules, collecting logs, scoring the
contests, providing awards, publishing results, maintaining the CAC, employing
Dan Henderson and Kathy Allison. We support the Contest Robot, Cabrillo and
Logbook of the World projects - all of which will benefit contesters.

2. We understand and support the League's goal of producing QST with
ever-increasing quality, and to do so within certain financial constraints.

3. We feel that coverage of contesting in the printed format of QST is
extremely important to the future of contesting as a mainstream amateur radio
activity.

4. We feel that QST's printed line-by-line scores are extremely important at
all levels of competition and participation. Although web-based results can
serve the purpose of delivering the same information at a lower delivery cost,
we feel that printed results serve a special purpose in promoting contesting.
Printed results in the national magazine provide a unique sense of 
satisfaction
and pride to participants; this cannot be duplicated with web-based results.

5. We are committed to assisting the League in finding solutions for complete
contest coverage that can be delivered at lower cost using all forms of 
media -
print and electronic, while at the same time making such coverage more
attractive and interesting to a much wider audience than has been the case to
date.

6. We ask the League to defer it's decision regarding elimination of detailed
contest results from QST until we have had an opportunity to work together to
craft a solution that meets the financial requirements while further enhancing
the quality of the product that is delivered.

7. To move this process forward expeditiously, we are assembling a group of
volunteers to participate in an ARRL Contest Coverage Working Group, whose 
goal
is to assist the League in defining a cost-effective and pragmatic solution 
for
outstanding coverage of ARRL contests - combining both QST and web-based
delivery methods.

ARRL Contest Coverage Working Group - Member Profiles
     - Long-time, experienced contesters
     - New, less-experienced contesters-in-training
     - Non-contesters
     - Business/marketing experts
     - Sports journalism/writing experts
     - Electronic delivery experts

SIGNATURE    TITLE    ORGANIZATION    DATE
/s/ WILL ANGENENT        President    Southern California Contest Club
January 15, 2002
Will Angenent, K6NDV

/s/ GARY BREED        President    South East Contest Club    January 15, 2002
Gary Breed, K9AY

/s/ SCOTT DETLOFF        President    North Coast Contesters    January 15,
2002
Scott Detloff, K8DX

/s/ AL DEWEY        President    Minnesota Wireless Association    January 15,
2002
Al Dewey, K0AD

/s/ PAUL GENTRY        President    Society of Midwest Contesters    January
15, 2002
Paul Gentry, K9PG

/s/ JAMES IDELSON        President    Yankee Clipper Contest Club    January
15, 2002
James Idelson, K1IR

/s/ BRIAN MCGINNESS        President    Potomac Valley Radio Club    January
15, 2002
Brian McGinness, N3OC

/s/ ROBERT NAUMANN        President    North Texas Contest Club    January 15,
2002
Robert Naumann, N5NJ

/s/ DOUG PRIEST        President    Frankford Radio Club    January 15, 2002
Doug Priest, W3CF

/s/ DAVID PRUETT        President    Mad River Radio Club    January 15, 2002
David Pruett, K8CC

/s/ DANIEL SCAGGS        President    Tennessee Contest Group    January 15,
2002
Daniel Scaggs, N7DLS

/s/ RICK TAVAN        President    Northern California Contest Club    January
15, 2002
Rick Tavan, N6XI

Please contact me with any questions, comments or other communications
regarding this Joint Statement and Request.

Respectfully submitted,

/s/ JAMES S. IDELSON

James S. Idelson, K1IR
President
Yankee Clipper Contest Club

ARRL Division Directors
Atlantic Division: Bernie Fuller, N3EFN, n3efn at arrl.org      Northwestern
Division: Greg Milnes, W7OZ, w7oz at arrl.org
Central Division: George R. Isely, W9GIG, w9gig at arrl.org      Pacific 
Division:
Jim Maxwell, W6CF, w6cf at arrl.org
Dakota Division: Jay Bellows, K0QB, k0qb at arrl.org      Roanoke Division: 
Dennis
Bodson, W4PWF, w4pwf at arrl.org
Delta Division: Rick Roderick, K5UR, k5ur at arrl.org      Rocky Mountain
Division: Walt Stinson, W0CP, w0cp at arrl.org
Great Lakes Division: George Race, WB8BGY, wb8bgy at arrl.org      Southeastern
Division: Frank M. Butler Jr, W4RH, w4rh at arrl.org
Hudson Division: Frank J. Fallon, N2FF, n2ff at arrl.org      Southwestern
Division: Art Goddard, W6XD, w6xd at arrl.org
Midwest Division: Wade Walstrom, W0EJ, w0ej at arrl.org      West Gulf Division:
Coy C. Day, N5OK, n5ok at arrl.org
New England Division: Tom Frenaye, K1KI, k1ki at arrl.org 


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